Jewel Allison

Ms. Allison was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York from an American mother and a Barbadian father and is affectionately rooted to the Caribbean ; as illustrated in her work.   She began writing poetry at an early age; in fact, Jewel cannot recall a time during her life when she was not writing poetry. She states, “Poetry came to me first and then I came to it!”  Jewel mentions it that way because she began writing as a child and later,  came to know why poetry was an art form different from other types of writing.  As a small child she taught herself how to write in the dark; as her inspirations often came very late at night and she tried very hard not to wake her sister;  with whom she shared a bedroom. Throughout her many endeavors in the art’s world, Jewel continued writing but  kept it a secret until she came forward with her critically acclaimed book entitled ‘Stealing Peace”.  Her studies of African and world history began  as a teenager while studying with the Late Great Dr. John Henrik Clarke and famed scholar and historian affectionately known as “Dr. Ben”.     

At the tender age of 17, Jewel met Harriet Caine, a beauty editor at Mademoiselle Magazine. It became an event that would change her life forever.  Jewel began modeling for Zoli, a prestigious New York City modeling agency as she graced the pages of Mademoiselle , Essence and Ebony magazines; just to name a few; as well as appearing as a model on the Regis and Kathy Lee Show on ABC-TV.  She was one of the first Black models to be considered for a cover for Mademoiselle magazine. As an actress Ms. Allison has appeared on several commercials,  appeared in “Boomerang” with Eddie Murphy,  and “Mr. Big Stuff” music video with Rapper Heavy D.  She is an active member of the Scree Actors Guild and has worked as a voice over artist as well.